The Hero
by PrincessZelda450
Summary: 5 years after the events to Spirit Tracks, the ancient evil Ganondorf returns. With the help of mysterious sorceress Lana, can Link and Zelda save Hyrule before Ganondorf gets his hands on the Triforce? Or will they be too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone!**

**So, here I am, starting yet another multi-chapter story. **

**Welp.**

**This is set about 5 years after spirit tracks, so that'd make Link and Zelda 17.**

**Well, my style of writing is usually comedy, but this story won't be taking that route. Tis a challenge for me, and hopefully it'll work out. **

**I do hope you enjoy it, and if it turns out to be utterly crap, many apologies.**

**This chapter will be very short, because it's only a lil intro thing, but yeah. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda (*Crying*)**

If you told 10-year-old me that Princess Zelda would be knocking on my door at 3am, I'd laugh in your face and tell you to stop being so stupid.

As it happens, she is.

I know that it's Zelda because a) I recognize her knock and b) I can hear her attempting to quietly say "Link! Let me in!"

"Zelda," I say, opening the wooden door to the small house that I and Niko share, "what on Earth are you doing here at this time?"

"I've run away." She declares, crossing her arms, "I've had enough of being Royalty."

"You can't just decide you don't want to be part of the Royal family anymore," I frown, letting her in and closing the door, "I don't think it works like that."

"Well, it works like that now." She states, dumping her bag on my bed and sitting next to it, "I can't deal with it anymore."

"What happened?" I ask, sitting next to her. It's very unlike Zelda to be so stressed, so something very bad must have happened to make her act like this.

"They said- The council said- Well, they said I have to- to get married." She whispers, grabbing my hand and letting out a small sob, "to someone I don't even know! I don't want to- I don't want to get married, Link! Especially not to some- some creep!"

"Hey, it's alright." I say, pulling her crying form closer to me, "you can stay here. But you know they'll be sending out a search party or something."

"I know." She sobs, holding tightly onto me, "that's why- Well, I kind of shoved some clothes into my bag that I bought from a traveling merchant- so I planned to make up a kind of… disguise. A girl… called Sheik, I think. Because that's what one of my ancestors did, and she didn't get caught for 7 years!"

"They'll recognize your face." I say doubtfully.

"Well, I can always wear a scarf round my face. Say I've got a cold or something."

"Hmm. Yeah, that could work."

"Link?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course." I say, unwrapping my arms from around her and standing up.

She sniffs and crawls under the covers, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. I lie down next to her and she rests her head on my chest, closing her eyes.

When she sleeps, she looks almost childish. Her lips are parted slightly and she occasionally sighs peacefully.

I'm left wondering how anybody could possibly expect her to get married.

* * *

"Link! Get up!" She hisses, shaking my arm, "it's super late!"

I groan and look over at the clock – 9am. Super late for her, maybe. Super _early_ for me.

"Go back to sleep." I complain, burying my face in the pillow, "it's too early."

"You're so lazy!" She says, "get up!"

"No."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Yes."

"No-" I begin to protest, but she shoves me off the bed and I land with a _thud_ on the floor.

"Get off the floor." She laughs, jumping off the bed and putting her face near mine, "why are you always so tired?"

"I'm tired because I was woken up a 3am by _someone_ knocking on the door."

"Well, _I _walked halfway across the Forest realm at 3am, and I'm not tired."

"Well, you're a princess. You have magic blood."

"I'm not a princess anymore." She says, walking over and opening her bag, "I'm Sheik, and I was born and raised here."

"Oh, yeah." I say, standing up and trailing over to her, "totally."

"What do people usually wear around here?" She asks, pulling multiple items of clothing out of her bag.

"Uh, clothes?"

"Ha ha, very funny."

Eventually she decides on a blue t-shirt and some white shorts. She ties her hair back in a plait and slips some sandals on.

"Well? Do I look like a princess?" She says, picking at the nail varnish on her fingernails.

"No." I say truthfully, "you look like Sheik."

She smiles, relieved, and looks as if she is about to say something when Niko walks in.

"Huh? Link, who- ohh, hello Princess." He says, crossing over to the stove.

"Wha- am I that recognizable?" She cries, looking at Niko with urgency.

"Well, no. It's just that you're the only reason Link would be awake at this time. Plus, he doesn't have any other blonde female… friends." Niko explains, cracking an egg into a pan, "want an omelet?"

"Uh, yeah please." Zelda says, "Niko, as far as anyone knows, I'm called Sheik, alright?"

"Sure thing."

Zelda thanks him and turns back to me, her blonde plait flying out behind her. "Link, whilst Niko's making breakfast, do you mind if we go outside? Only, I want to enjoy the weather before they start searching for me… or whatever."

"Yeah, okay." I agree, pulling on my shoes and opening the door.

The weather outside is beautiful, and it's honestly a shame that the day will be spent worrying about what's going to happen to Zelda. She's trying so hard to be brave, but I can see in her eyes that she's terrified.

Seeing the ocean usually cheers her up. She's always loved it, begging me to drive her to the ocean realm constantly. Perhaps it runs in her blood.

But today, she just stares sadly at the water, her eyes glassing over, and she turns to me and says suddenly, "Remember when Niko fell into the sea?"

"Yeah." I laugh, memories of the old man slipping on a leaf and falling face-first into the water running through my brain.

"That was almost 4 years ago." She whispers, stepping closer to me, "when everything was… easy."

She rests her head on my shoulder and quietly sniffs. "What if they find me?"

"They won't." I assure her, although I don't know. "You'll be fine."

"But what if they do?"

"They won't."

She sighs and stares out into the distance. "I'm… I'm scared, Link."

"Hey, it's alright." I say softly, as she starts to cry, "They won't find you."

"I'm so selfish." She sobs, wrapping her arms around me and crying into my shoulder, "I abandoned my country because I didn't want to get married."

"Zelda." I say, probably a little more sharply than I should have, because she looks up at me terrified.

"What?" She squeaks.

"Zelda, listen to me." I say, looking at her directly into her azure eyes, "You're not selfish. Your well-being is a whole lot more important than anything else. You didn't abandon anyone, Zellie, and even if you did, it was for a good reason."

She opens her mouth to say something, but a sob comes out instead and she buries her head in my shoulder again, "I'm so sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for, silly." I smile, smoothing down her hair.

She doesn't say anything, still holding onto me. The wind blows coldly over us, causing the leaves on the trees to sway and the grass to rustle. I felt Zelda shiver, but am unsure if it's because of the wind, or her crying.

* * *

Zelda remained the same for the following week. Occasionally, she'd become quiet and request to be alone for a while, but on the whole she was fine.

Sometimes, if someone seems fine, they're often not. That's something I've learned from my time traveling. Of course, some people are naturally happy and smiley, but most people are covering something up. Zelda is no exception, and I should've realized that she was being overly-happy, but I was so relieved she wasn't crying all the time, I didn't worry about it.

Niko has gone out, and I suppose it's the emptiness of the house that set her off.

She was fine up until a couple of minutes ago, but something must've triggered a memory or something, because now she's shaking and sobbing, curled up in a chair. I silently pull her into my chest, because that's the best thing to do. When Zelda has her panic attacks, she can't talk because, as she puts it, it feels like her entire chest is tied up. Sometimes I talk to her, but sometimes it's better to say nothing. What she needs to do right now is get her breathing under control – breathe in for 4 seconds, hold it for 7, and breathe out for 8. Usually they only last about 5 minutes, but she's been trembling and crying for over 15 now.

"Zelda?" I whisper tentatively, but she shakes her head and silences me.

I hate seeing Zelda like this. It's horrible. The first time it happened, I was terrified. It still scares me, because I'm so used to seeing her happy, and singing, and throwing flowers over me, or something.

About 5 minutes later, she finally says, "Link?"

"Mm?" I reply, brushing a strand of hair out of her tear stained face.

"Do you think Malladus is really dead?"

I'm a bit taken aback by this. We haven't spoken of Malladus for 5 years, since we battled him. It's like an unwritten rule that we don't talk of that awful day – I don't know why she's bringing it back up now.

"Well… yes. I do. I mean, we killed him ourselves." I say, choosing my words carefully.

"I can… I can feel something… it's like before." She explains, chewing her nails, "Something evil. It's worse than before."

I try not to act surprised, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." She nods, "What… what do you suppose it is?"

"I don't know." I say, truthfully.

"Maybe I can explain, my dear." Comes a voice from behind us.

A voice that I have not heard for 5 years.

A voice I thought I'd never hear again.

Anjean.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Before this chapter, can I just say – (And I hate disappointing readers omfg) but this will be Zelink. I'm like, really sorry to whoever wanted it to be LanaxLink I feel so bad omg**

**I'm sorry ;-;**

"Anjean?" Zelda gasps, running over and engulfing the old Lokomo in a hug, "but- how- I have so many questions!"

"I can explain." Anjean smiles, "but first, do you mind if we go to the tower of spirits? I'm using an awful lot of energy here."

"Yes, yes of course!" Zelda gushes, turning round to me, "you don't mind driving us, do you?"

"No, it's fine." I say, "but it's awfully cold outside at night, you know."

"We'll be fine." Anjean nods, already beginning to turn to face the door.

The night outside is cold, and dark, and there's a sort of eerie feeling in the air. Of course, I know we're safe. There haven't been any monsters (with a few exceptions) since we defeated Malladus.

I help Anjean into the passenger carriage and hold the door open for Zelda to do the same, but she shakes her head.

"Do you mind if I sit in the front with you?" She asks, "I need to tell you something."

"Don't you want to sit with Anjean, though?" I frown.

"We'll have time to catch up later." Zelda says firmly, giving me a pointed stare.

"Yeah. Alright then." I say, "you'll be alright, won't you, Anjean?"

"I'll be fine, Link." She replies, the wrinkles under her eyes crinkling.

I nod and hop into the driver's seat – Zelda squishes in next to me. It's a bit uncomfortable, but we'll be fine.

I start the train up, and Zelda doesn't waste any time before saying,

"I think he's back."

"I don't know, Zelda…" I waver, "I mean, not many things can come back to life after being shot with an arrow sent from the Gods."

"Well, _something's_ back, then." She sighs, "I can feel it. And Anjean is back. And- and- never mind."

"What?" I ask, raising my eyebrows at her, "tell me."

"It doesn't matter." She says quietly, chewing her nails.

"Zelda."

"I- fine." She says softly, "I had a- a dream- a nightmare- and I think it was- I think it was psychic."

"What happened in it?" I say, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"I don't know- well- all I can remember is a girl with blue hair… the sea… the sky… and- and something evil. That- um, well, it, uh, it killed… you. And me."

I whip my head round, panic in my voice now, "_Killed you? _That seems pretty important, Zelda!"

"I'm sorry!" She squeaks, "it was probably just a stupid dream anyway."

"Yeah…" I agree, wanting an excuse to believe I was safe, "Probably just a dream."

The rest of the journey is silent, which is very unlike Zelda. She occasionally shivers in the cold air, but I don't have any cloaks to give her. She hunches up in her seat and whispers to herself – I can't hear what she's saying, but I don't interrupt.

When we finally reach the tower of spirits, Zelda has cheered up a bit. She helps Anjean off the train, but once we enter the tower, she holds her breath and fixes her gaze on one particular point. This place holds a lot of memories, good and bad, so she's probably trying to hold off a panic attack. I feel so bad for her, I honestly do.

She used to be so happy all the time, skipping around and singing, forcing me to wear flower crowns and taking about 50 pictographs of me with the pink plants in my hair. Sometimes _she'd _ wear them, and then I'd have to take the pictographs of her. Sometimes, we'd both wear them, and Niko would take pictures – for 'memories'.

But then, when she turned 15, the council or whatever decided she was too old to be messing about with flowers, and she suddenly had weekly meetings about laws, and would have to travel for weeks on end to far off places that we didn't even know existed. She got more and more stressed, and one day, when she was visiting me for the first time in 3 weeks, she just broke down and started crying. And then it got worse and worse until it was a full blown panic attack.

I walk over and gently grab her hand, in an attempt to calm her. I think it works a bit because she exhales and turns to Anjean.

"So, why are you back?" Zelda asks, clearly very impatient and curious.

"Well… I'm afraid this might take a while." Anjean says, "Zelda, I trust you remember your tutoring lessons on the ancient legends?"

"Yes." Says Zelda immediately.

"And you, Link?" the Lokomo asks, turning to me.

"Yup." I say.

How could I not? Zelda had decided to tell me the extent of her knowledge a couple of years ago.

I smile a little at the memory.

"_You don't know anything about the heroes of the past?" The 13 year old princess exclaimed, "but it's so interesting!"_

"_uh, I know a bit about the hero of winds." I said, frowning, "and… something about time…?"_

"_Woah, I have to tell you! It's so interesting!"_

"…_It is?" I said doubtfully._

"_Yes!" She insisted, "do you want to hear about the hero of time or sky first?"_

"_Umm… Time?" I chose._

"_Okay, listen closely." She smiled, and sat down, gesturing for me to do the same. "A couple of centuries ago…_

_There was once a boy named Link – funny, right? Anyway – he was born and raised in the forest by a great spirit named the Deku Tree. All his life he believed he was of the Kokiri tribe, a race that live in the forest and never grow old. But he was actually a Hylian, born to the family of a Hylian Knight. However, his father died in battle, and his mother, when she knew she was dying, rode her horse to the forest, where she knew of a great spirit, and her final dying wish was that the spirit would look after her only son. The boy grew up in the forest – but he was different. You see, each Kokiri had their own fairy, but Link did not have one. His only friend was a girl called Saria, who accepted him for who he was and didn't judge him for his lack of a companion. He lived peacefully in the forest, until one day, when he was 10 years old, the Great Deku Tree told him that he must venture out the forest and find the Princess Zelda – not me, by the way, I'm not that old – but yeah, so Link had to defeat a giant bug – I would've cried – anyway, he defeated this giant bug and got the Spiritual Stone of the forest. He thought that by defeating Ghoma, the creepy bug thing, he would break the curse on the Great Deku Tree. But it was too late – The tree died, giving Link the quest to go to Princess Zelda. Link did what no Kokiri had ever done before – he ventured out the forest. He traveled across Hyrule Field and met with the probably really beautiful Princess Zelda, who gave him the quest of finding the Spiritual Stones of Water and Fire. So Link set off on his new quest – battling many enemies, but also making many new friends – Malon, a kind farm girl, Ruto, the Princess of the Zora tribe – they're fish people by the way – and Darunia, the leader of the Gorons. He collected the stones and went back to find Princess Zelda – but Hyrule Castle was burning. Princess Zelda and her guardian, Impa, were fleeing the castle on a horse, closely pursued by the evil Gerudo – that's another tribe of people – Ganondorf. Zelda threw the magical Ocarina of Time to Link and he quickly ran to the Temple of Time, intending to use the spiritual stones to open the gate and get the Master Sword. But when he drew it, he was sealed in the Sacred Realm for 7 years, until he was old enough to be a hero. When he was 17, the enchantment broke, and he was let out into the real world again. Determined to save Hyrule, and the Princess Zelda, he journeyed through the now dark land of Hyrule, saving the 6 sages of Fire, Water, Spirit, Forest, Shadow, and, erm, oh yeah, the Light one was already safe. And Zelda was another one. Okay, anyway, then he had to go and defeat Ganondorf. It was a really really tough battle and he almost died! And when it was over, the Princess sent him back to his childhood so he could fill in on his missed years. Some people say she was selfish, but personally I think it was a good thing for her to do."_

"_Um, wow." I replied, genuinely impressed by this tale, "and what about the sky one?"_

"_See, I told you it was interesting." She smirked, "Hmm, the hero of skies was like, 5000 years ago. Or more? I don't honestly know. Anyway…_

_There was a boy called Link – again, yeah – and he lived on Skyloft, a floating city in the sky. That was there because of the Goddess Hylia, by the way, but I can't be bothered to tell you that tale now. So anyway, he lived there with his best friend Zelda - yes, again – and she wasn't a Princess by the way. Anyway, they both lived on this really cool sky island place, and they all had giant birds to fly around on, which is pretty awesome, right? So anyway, after this weird ceremony competition thingy, Zelda and Link went out flying on their giant birds – called Loftwings, I think – and Zelda was all ready to be like 'oooooh, I love you!' – but because her life was a bit crappy, a giant black tornado swept her off her Loftwing and onto the surface below. The surface was actually Hyrule, but nobody had been there for centuries. Link knew he had to go and save Zelda – because he loved her or something probably, but anyway, he was all dramatic and got this snazzy sword which had a girl spirit living in it called Fi. So Link and Fi traveled through forests, mountains, deserts, lakes, and a bunch of other places to find Zelda. And they did find her, but it turned out she was the Goddess Hylia reborn as a mortal. So she had to go into this sleep for like 1000 years, which she was pretty pooed about, and so was Link probably, but anyway, then when she woke up, it was all mushy and lovely until some creep called Ghirahim took her away through the gate of time, and he like, sacrificed her soul to the Demon King Demise – which is pretty messed up if you ask me. Soooo, Link had to kill Demise, but Demise was all like 'An incarnation of my hatred will be born again… those with the blood of the Goddess and the spirit of the Hero are eternally bound to this curse…' before he died. And then after Link and Zelda got married and like created Hyrule and stuff. So that's why Ganondorf and Malladus and all these horrible, horrible demons keep being reborn, and that's why me and you had to fight that freak. Because I have the blood of the goddess – pretty cool, right – and you have the spirit of the hero."_

"_That's… that's amazing." I said, awed by the tale of these great heroes of the past. _

"_Yeah, it is." She smiled, "You do know about the hero of winds, right?"_

"_Well, I know a bit." I grinned, "But I wouldn't mind hearing it again."_

"_Oh, cool! Okay, well, here we go again…_

_There was once a boy called Link – MY GREAT-GRANDAD BY THE WAY – who lived on a little island called Outset with his Grandma and little sister Aryll. The reason he lived on an island is because the Gods had to flood the ancient land of Hyrule – the one that the hero of the sky, and time had lived in. It makes me a little sad thinking about it actually. I'm sure it was magnificent. And the Link and Zelda from the sky worked so hard… To create a lovely Hyrule… and then it was kept like that for so long… but anywayyyyy, he lived on this island. And one day, a pirate called Tetra – my great-grandma, the best person EVER – was captured by, as she put it, 'some freaky demon bird'. And Link saved her, because she was dropped on his island. But then the freaky demon bird mistook Aryll for Tetra! So Link had to go with the pirates to this really freaky place called the Forsaken Fortress to rescue her. But he kind of failed. And then, he was rescued by this talking boat. He found the 3 pearls and opened the Tower of the Gods, and went to ancient Hyrule with Tetra! It turns out Tetra was Princess Zelda, and she had to stay behind and be really bored whilst Link had to look for pieces of this magic thingy called the Triforce. So anyway, he did that, and found the two sages, and restored the Master Sword, and together, him and Zelda killed Ganondorf! _

_Then, like, 2 years later, Tetra was captured AGAIN. And she was taken into a completely different world, and Link followed because casual. And loads of stuff happened there, but I can't be bothered to explain._

_But in the end, they found this place! And named it New Hyrule, and lived, uh, happily ever after."_

I'm snapped back to the present by Anjean's voice.

"So, I trust you know of Ganondorf?"

"Yes." Zelda and I reply at the same time.

"Well… I'm afraid… He's back." Anjean says bluntly.

Zelda's eyes widen and she digs her nails into my hand. "But Anjean, we can't destroy him without the Master Sword. And- and that's at the bottom of the sea."

"Ah, but I have a way of making it there. Do not fear, child. A sorceress named Lana will open up 3 portals to the past – to the eras of Wind, Time and Sky. You must defeat 3 great evils, and restore the Triforce. Only then will you be able to get the master sword, do you understand?"

"Yes." Says Zelda quietly, "And where… Where is Lana?"

"I'm here." Comes a voice from the top of the stairs. A girl holding an old book smiles and walks towards us.

Zelda's nails dig even deeper into my skin. At first, I'm confused. But then I realize.

This girl has blue hair.

Zelda's dream was psychic.


	3. Chapter 3

**I am so sorry OH MY GOD**

**I haven't updated in like 3 months ;-; my laptop broke and I had exams so—**

**I'm sorry 3**

"Hi!" The girl, Lana, grins as she skips towards us, "it's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too." I smile, trying to ignore the pain in my hand where Zelda's nails have pierced my skin, "Um, I'm Link. And this is Zelda… obviously."

Lana smiles a little nervously towards Zelda – I suppose when someone is deathly pale and staring at you it can be a bit unnerving.

I try and wriggle my hand away from Zelda's, but her grip is firm and I can't let go. "Zeldy-" I hiss, "um, I think you're making me bleed-"

"What? Oh… I'm sorry." She mutters, dropping my hand instantly and turning to face Lana, "…hello."

"Hi!" Lana says again, and I think she's about to shake Zelda's hand when she opts for a one-armed hug instead, "I've heard so much about you, Princess!"

"Well, I hope they're good things." Zelda says, her mouth turning up a bit at the corners. "I can't say I've heard much about you, though."

"Oh, I won't bore you with the details of my life." Lana laughs, "and whilst I'd love to stay and chat, I'm afraid we must be going."

"Oh – of course." Zelda nods, "uh… where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you!" Lana shakes her head, "sorry about that. We're heading to the temple of time! It's a bit of a trek, but I'm sure we'll get there in adequate time!"

"But… Lana, that's underwater." Zelda frowns, clearly aware of this Temple.

I, however, have no idea. I can name many temples – having nearly died in most of them – but a temple of time? That's a new one.

Zelda and Lana seem to be having a very in-depth conversation about the mysterious underwater temple, so I head over to Anjean instead of interrupting.

"Hey, Anjean?" I say, "What… what exactly is the temple of time?"

She frowns, and for a moment I think she's about to scold me for not being a history genius or something, but she soon smiles and replies, "all you need to know is that it will be of great use to you."

Well, _thanks._ That really helps.

"Oh. Well, great. Thank you." I sigh, trying not to sound rude.

"Don't trouble yourself with unnecessary facts, Link. Sometimes it is our own knowledge which helps the most."

"Oh… Thanks, Anjean." I say quietly.

"Anytime. And Link-"

She is cut off by Zelda saying, "Link! Can you drive us to the ocean realm?"

"Uh, yeah!" I reply distractedly, before turning back to Anjean, "Yeah?"

She hesitates a moment, before glancing over towards Zelda who is still looking at me, "…It doesn't matter. You will find out in time."

I sigh, nodding and heading back over towards the two girls. Honestly, I don't want to be thinking negatively about someone who has come back from the supposed dead after 5 years, but that was really annoying. Why would you say something and then not finish the statement? There is literally no point of mentioning it in the first place.

Lana taps my shoulder, "I hate to sound rude, but could we leave now? It's getting late and the journey's not a short one, so I'm anxious to leave as soon as possible!"

"It's fine." I smile, "the train's parked outside."

Lana starts to follow me, but Zelda hangs back, "Do you mind if I speak to Anjean for a second?"

"Oh, that's alright!" Lana replies, before I get a chance to.

"Alright… thanks."

Leaving Zelda behind, Lana and I walk out the entrance of the place that was once the most magical thing in existence to me. Now, it's just an old temple, and it doesn't really mean that much anymore.

The air is cold, and I can see Lana's freezing, and I can see her breath when she exhales.

She won't admit it, though.

Lana is a strange character. I've only known her for about ten minutes and yet it feels like I've known her for my entire life. So far she's been smiley, and bright and bubbly, managing to make Zelda smile at a point where even I couldn't. Her hair is unnatural and her clothes certainly don't fit in with Hyrulian culture – they're exotic, designed for warm weather.

But at the same time, I feel as if there's something about her that's not quite right. Perhaps it's the way she stares blankly into the distance as if she's thinking about something life-threatening, or maybe it's just because I'm not used to people grinning and smiling at people they've just met, but I get the feeling she's not what she seems, as cliché as that sounds.

Her eyes flicker over the train in front of us, the train that I received all those years ago as a gift from the woman who I thought was dead. I suppose when you're friends with Princesses who have Goddess blood, your life isn't exactly going to be normal.

"I…" She starts, her voice significantly quieter than before, "I've never been on a train. Is… is it perfectly safe?"

"Perfectly." I nod, smiling at her, "this particular one was made by the spirits themselves."

"The… spirits?" Lana frowns, "I- I thought you worshipped Goddesses?"

"Some do." I shrug, "My roommate who's kinda my adoptive grandfather does. I don't know… I've never really thought about them. I think Zelda believes in them, but I'm not sure."

"Oh… Well, anyway, I didn't mean to start a religious debate!" She laughs, the vulnerable part of her covered up again, "I'm a firm believer that people can worship what they want."

It's at this moment that Zelda shows up, a strange mixture of happiness and sadness on her face. Her eyes are red and slightly watery, but at the same time she's smiling in a weird way that I've only seen once before, when she found a puppy by the river and fell utterly in love with it.

It's strange, how a memory can be triggered by a single smile, or face.

"Well, we'd best be going!" She says, once she gets close to us, "Lana, would you like to sit in the back with me?"

Lana smiles, and she looks almost relieved, "Yes, that'd be lovely!"

Once we set off, I'm alone in the front, darkness ahead of me and the same creepy feeling that was in the air when I was heading off to face a demon.

In all honesty, I feel like I'm underreacting about Ganondorf. I mean, yes, he's an ancient warrior, but if he's been defeated twice – three times - before, how tough can he really be?

I am a bit worried about Zelda's dream, though. If it was psychic, which it seems to be, then we're both going to end up dead. Which… isn't great. So hopefully, it was wrong. Maybe a warning, so we can prevent it? I don't know. Seeing as I do not have holy blood, I don't get visions into the future.

There are no monsters on the rails tonight, which is a little suspicious, but honestly I'm too tired to care right now.

The train crosses into the ocean realm and instantly the air feels salty and cool. It's nice – maybe if Zelda could get there without me, I'd move there.

Now that I'm here, I realize I don't actually know where I need to stop. The underwater tracks seem the most logical explanation, but they only lead into the temple of water – nowhere else, and there certainly isn't another temple down there, time or not.

I decide to stop at the sanctuary, mainly because it's the next stop.

I step onto the platform, and the two others follow suit – Zelda looking happy and Lana positively glowing.

"Um… where to next?" I ask Lana.

"Well, I was going to suggest we find a boat, but it seems we're closer than I thought!" She ponders, "although… we'll probably need a boat once we get there…"

"I can get a boat." Zelda pipes up, "there are some by the dock here."

"Oh, that's perfect!" Lana grins, "Okay, here's what we'll do… I'll teleport us, and the boat, as far as I can, and from there we should only have about an hour's sail. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me." Zelda nods, and I shrug in acceptance.

"Alright then!" Lana says, tugging one of the nearby boats into the sea, hopping into it and helping me and Zelda in, too.

It sways a little, and for a moment I think we're about to capsize. I hate sailing – it makes me feel sick, in all honesty.

Zelda clearly does not think the same – she's looking happier than I've seen in weeks.

"Okay… hold on!" Lana exclaims, and before I know it we're whizzing through the air at a thousand miles an hour.

The boat lands with a splash, bobbing up and down for a second.

Where we have landed is somewhere I have never been before. The sea is a lighter blue, and the islands dotted around are different, smaller, deserted. There are ruins of houses which people must have lived in, once.

The nearest one has a windmill, and a lighthouse, and the houses seem to be mainly intact. But it's eerily quiet, and there are no lights on anywhere.

Maybe one day, we can explore it. Right now, though, Lana seems anxious to sail south, towards what seems to be a tower. It's tall – really tall.

The sail on our little boat picks up on the wind and the raft drifts downwards, towards the looming building. The air here is warmer, and it seems calmer than back home.

At first, we sail in silence, the wind blowing through our hair as the sun rises in the horizon, the occasional bird chirping.

It must be around 5am, and sleep would be good right now, but I can't sleep here. Clearly, Lana can. Her head rests on her hand and her hair whips in her face.

Zelda seems to notice, too, and sighs, "I have no idea what is happening right now."

"Nor do I." I admit, "it's all a bit sudden."

She nods and the silence comes back, for a minute. But then she opens her mouth and says, "I don't want to die."

I'm a bit taken aback – she doesn't usually talk about things like that.

"Well… we're all going to eventually," I say slowly, choosing my words carefully, "I mean-"

"I know that." She rolls her eyes, "I mean now. I don't want to die doing this."

"…You won't."

She sighs, "still, I need you to promise me something."

"Mm?"

"Can you…" She hesitates and leans across the boat to take my hand, "can you promise me that, no matter what happens, you won't try to sacrifice yourself for me?"

"I can't promise that." I say quietly, avoiding eye contact, "sorry."

"You have to!" She hisses, "please."

"I- I can't. You mean way too much to me."

"If I really mean that much, you can promise this."

I narrow my eyes, "fine. But you have to agree the same."

"Deal."

"Alright."

"Promise?" She asks, sitting back.

And so, with my fingers crossed behind my back, I say, "Promise."

-.-.-.-.

The journey to the so-called 'Tower of the Gods' took a little over three hours. By now the sun is shining and the tower looms in front of us, the bricks crumbling a little from the sea constantly lapping against it. Its design is far more complicated than anything I've ever seen back home – the same weird triangle pattern seems to repeat itself on the walls, over and over again.

Lana jumps out the boat, and I follow suit – the water's waist-height, which is pretty annoying, but it's too late now.

"So!" She smiles, drifting over to a shining point in the sea. No guesses that's where we're heading. "Do you know what this is?"

"No." I say.

And, for the first time in forever, Zelda says no too.

"Oh!" Lana frowns, "Well, I suppose I'd better inform you! This is essentially a portal to the original Hyrule! It's going to be a little difficult, since the old King wished for it to be flooded, but… for some reason, the castle, temple and the paths connecting them weren't affected. I guess the Goddesses – uh, spirits – knew we'd need it."

"Oh! Now I know where we are!" Zelda smiles.

Of course she does. She knows everything.

"Well, that's good!" Lana grins, "Well… shall we go?"

"Alright."

And with that, we are plunged into the water, freezing, soaking, but for some reason, not drowning.


End file.
